Of all the sites in and around Lourdes associated with Bernadette, the Cachot is probably the place which has changed the least. The church of her baptism has been replaced, the Grotto has become the centre and hub of a huge pilgrimage centre (even the river Gave has been moved away from the place of the apparitions to provide a large arena for the crowds of pilgrims), the Boly Mill is hidden behind towering shops and hotels, and the convent hospice is now a part of a busy town hospital. But the Cachot sits as it has ever done down a little side street which is comparatively unchanged from its form 150 years ago. Today’s pilgrims will however have to try and overlook the rather good Chinese restaurant at the end of the street – this is a much later arrival to Lourdes of course!! The Soubirous family did not walk home to the smells of Peking Duck, bean sprouts and noodles!
A visit to the Cachot is a real must for those seeking an authentic glimpse into the life of Bernadette. Apart from the sheer squalor and discomfort of this place, the family’s time at the Cachot was marked by other difficulties. Bernadette’s health had always been poor, and in 1857 she was sent out to Bartres to work as shepherdess and house servant – an unhappy experience from which she was rescued by her father who came to take her home in January 1858. François Soubirous also had difficulties – he was taken to prison for 9 days in the spring of 1857 when flour went missing from the bakery where he was working as a labourer. Having an impoverished family perhaps made François a natural suspect, but he and his family insisted upon their innocence and no evidence was found to incriminate him. François went home with no charges made, but the whole episode must have dealt a bitter blow to the family who were already at their lowest ebb. Public humiliation and suspicion were added to the other burdens they had to endure.
The Cachot today is a simple plain and empty room, with a few chairs and benches, a fireplace and window. In winter it would have been cold and damp, the close air filled with the smell and fumes of the woodfire, and in summer it would be stuffy and airless. A small display in the adjoining waiting area gives details of the history of Bernadette, and some items which belonged to her. Most impressive is the statue of Our Lady which stood in the old parish church, the church where Bernadette was baptised and brought up. If this was the primary image that she had in her mind of the Blessed Virgin, then it is not so hard to understand why she did not identify the beautiful lady of the first apparitions with the mother of God, as stylistically this statue and the image familiar to us of Our Lady of Lourdes are very different.
The Cachot is open for visiting throughout the pilgrimage season. Hint for pilgrimage group leaders – if anyone complains unreasonably about their hotel room, take them to the Cachot to remind them of the accommodation Bernadette herself had when she was going to the Grotto for the Apparitions! The Cachot is also available for small celebrations of Mass, usually in the early morning – simply ask the helpful staff at the Office between the waiting area and the Cachot itself.
Bernadette at the Cachot
by Fr Philip Griffin
Parish Priest of Holy Trinity, Newcastle under Lyme. Chaplain to the sick at Lourdes for the Birmingham Diocese
Mention has already been made of the Cachot – a word which means jail or dungeon – as we have followed Saint Bernadette and her family from the security of life at the Boly Mill, to their financial downfall into homelessness and impoverishment. By the end of 1856 the family were bankrupt and homeless, and were offered the shelter of the Cachot, which was owned by their cousins, as a refuge in a time of sheer desperation and hopelessness.
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